Cancer screening iPhone application (#1192)

In recent years, patients’ use of health information
technology has increased and has been a catalyst for patient empowerment.

Aim: The
purpose of this project was to develop a user-friendly iPhone application targeted
to the general population with the objective to enhance patient’s
responsibility towards their own health and adherence to official cancer
screening guidelines.

Methods:

International, national and provincial official cancer screening
recommendations were reviewed and combined to develop a comprehensive
province-adapted screening program. Guidelines from the NCCN for detection, prevention and risk reduction of breast,
cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate and genetic familial high-risk assessment
for breast and ovarian cancer were collected. Other cancer agency screening
programs for breast, cervical, colon, hereditary cancer were also collected.

Results:

An iPhone application consisting of a short
interactive questionnaire was developed in an application format for the iPhone.
The questionnaire includes assessment of patients risks factors such as gender,
age as well as personal and family medical history. An automatic computation of
patients’ individual risks allows for instantaneous formulation of an
individualized cancer screening recommendations

Conclusions:

An
iPhone application consisting of a short interactive questionnaire was
developed in an application format for the iPhone. The questionnaire includes
assessment of patients risks factors such as gender, age as well as personal
and family medical history. An automatic computation of patients’ individual
risks allows for instantaneous formulation of an individualized cancer
screening recommendations. The second phase of this project w involved
assessment of hospital users’ satisfaction
with this application and adherence to screening programs using a short
multiple choice survey. The survey aimed at evaluating user friendliness of the
application, self assessment impact on empowerment, anxiety induction as as as
conformity to recommandations. The results of the survey are currently being
analyzed and will be presented.